Nancy Heckler's garden, during the Puget Sound Fling

Many of the gardens on the 2024 Garden Fling itinerary were ones I had seen previously—many, but not all, not this one. I was thrilled to finally get to visit Nancy Heckler's garden and meet her in person... 

I know Nancy via social media, through photos shared when Portland friends like Nancy Goldman and Lucy Hardiman visited her garden. It was rather poignant to finally visit this garden the day after Lucy Hardiman's end of life celebration had taken place back in Portland. I could definitely picture Lucy strolling the paths and enjoying this garden.

A vignette (along the gravel driveway) that was photographed by many that day.

It is just so good!

I wanted to zoom in on a distinct element or two, but really it was about the whole not the parts.

Just a few feet further along was another picturesque vignette...

At this rate it was going to take me all day to see the garden! (we'd started at Heronswood and were later headed to the Brindley garden and Windcliff)

Garage/studio with the garden gate flung open in front.

Nancy is a lover of hydrangeas, the charming parasols are protecting the shade loving plants from a sunny hot spell.

I'll admit to being rather ambivalent about them (the hydrangea, I loved the parasols). I was a little surprised to see so many in the gardens we visited that weekend. Here in Portland they've kind of fallen out of fashion since they need so much summer water to be happy. Nancy's plants were gorgeous.

Be still my heart! What a line-up of watering cans.

Here are two plants I've grown to adore and wouldn't be without. Lonicera crassifolia and Saxifraga stolonifera.

They're planted in and around a raised planter.

Yep, I can think of several fun planter-things I'd do with that piece of metal.

And this! Athyrium niponicum 'Regal Red' and Hydrangea macrophylla 'Eclipse'. Wowsa! (thanks Nancy for ID)

These wooden "stepping logs" had me thinking back to the metal piece above.

There were a few outbuildings on the property, this one with a charming long planter on its front porch .

I remember my mom using large wooden beads and napkin rings in macrame plant holders back when I was a kid, that's what this branch treatment had me thinking of.

The branches worked around a tall tree trunk with a twig orb at the top.

Everyone I passed on the pathway told me not to miss the lizard.

A bit of the garden description from our Fling directory: "I’m a passionate gardener, plant collector and nature lover. My small house and garden is tucked away within a secluded woodland setting in Indianola, and is jam-packed with a crazy collection of plants, containers and 100+ hydrangeas… I planted every shade tolerant woodland plant I could get my hands on, anything with TEXTURE. That is what my garden is to me—form, texture, layers and all shades of green with very few flowers. Perhaps not enough color for many folks, but it’s a very relaxing palette." Ah yes, Nancy and I are both foliage lovers.

It was a jolt to emerge from the shady pathways into the open lawn.

There were larger twig orbs (like the one at the top of the trunk shown earlier) positioned around the lawn.

Rhododendron pachysanthum I believe.

A different door, another sweet vignette.

The deck/patio area was home to many fantastic plants and containers.

Salix boydii

There's Kris of Late to the Garden Party! I think that might be Jim Bishop next to her.

Mahonia, maybe M. x media 'Marvel', in a large container.

Love this table planting on top of the rock-filled gabion.

Entirely different, yet reminiscent of the twig branches worked around the trunk I shared earlier in this post.

Big shiny begonia leaves!

I have absolutely no recall of what the buff colored sticks belong to, I was just focused on the patterned asarum leaves.

I am just about back to the gravel drive now, where I'll have to board the bus. I worked my way around the garden twice that day, taking it all in. I folded the images together for purposes of this post however, trying to make it one seamless loop. 

I fear there is much I missed. Nancy's garden has so many layers. Maybe I'll be back again someday and try again to take it all in again. Thank you Nancy, for letting 100 garden-loving people tramp through your private paradise!

To receive alerts of new danger garden posts by email, subscribe here. Please note; these are sent from a third party, you’ll want to click thru to read the post here on the blog to avoid their annoying ads. 

All material © 2009-2024 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

"The Accidental Dry Garden" at the Northwest Perennial Alliance 40th Anniversary Annual Membership Meeting

Coming up this Sunday, Sept 15th, I'll be at the Bellevue Botanic Garden giving a talk for the Northwest Perennial Alliance called The Accidental Dry Garden.

In the presentation I'll share information on how my front garden came together, and talk about what it means to have a dry garden—something I didn't set out to create, but I have.

There will be a lot of plant talk, because after all the plants are what it's all about.

Anyone can register for the talk and watch online (an ambitious undertaking by the NPA, both an in-person and online event!), although I think the information I share will be best appreciated by those gardening in the summer-dry PNW gardens of Southern British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon, especially those west of the Cascades. You can register here. It would be great to see familiar and friendly faces!

To receive alerts of new danger garden posts by email, subscribe here. Please note; these are sent from a third party, you’ll want to click thru to read the post here on the blog to avoid their annoying ads. 

All material © 2009-2024 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude. 

Plants on and around the fence, video tours

In early June—when I shared photos and short videos of the Leo planters on the fence—blog reader and frequent commentor Chavli requested a video of all the fence plants. I did not forget about the request, but video is not a medium I naturally think of using. Fast forward to a nice day at the end of August and I finally decided to grab my phone and record. Is there audio? No. Just the sound of cars, and birds, and planes, and me crashing around. Maybe I'll be good enough to narrate someday. For now enjoy a few short videos, which I did upload to YouTube, I think that results in a better experience (click through to watch them there, where the videos are a little larger) and then photos, because what would a dg blog post be without photos? 

The first video (or short in YouTube parlance) is a pan around the area...

The next is a little longer and looks closely at the plants on the fence...

Then a view from the west end, looking back towards our garage.

And finally a look at the bromeliads on the tall columns in the far southwest corner of the garden.

Here's the story in photos, approaching the shade pavilion via the walkway through the upper back garden.

The fence plants—starting on the far east end, closest to the back of our garage, and working west, towards the property line.

A chunky form of Billbergia nutans that sends up frequent flower spikes.

More Billbergia nutans that tend to bloom in early summer.

Rake and cultivator heads make good fence shelves.

Pteris vittata

The fern frame, a few months after putting it together.

I did this pyrrosia planting in August of of '22, I'm thrilled it's still looking good (and starting to grow through the burlap) two years later.

The bromeliad bowl planting...

And new pitchers on Nepenthes 'Miranda'.

This plant still thrills me some five years after bringing it home.

Yes, both pitcher styles are on the same plant. How cool is that? 

A stepped back look at the shade pavilion area. Note, you can see two of the tall columns in the final video on the far right, behind the stock tanks.

And a rarely seen view from the west. I'm behind the stock tanks, near the columns, my back is to the fence at the back of the property (the west side), the brown building is our garage. I liked this angle because it shows off my oldest/tallest tetrapanax, which grows in a large stock tank.

And here's more of a straight-on view. The variegated fatsia is growing in a stock tank, and you can see the tetrapanx trunk as it arches up on the left. The metal and terracotta on the right is the top of the shortest of the column planters.

That's the tour! I am curious if the videos are something you'd like to see more of? Do they add to the experience in a way photos do not? Thanks, as always, for stopping by!

—   —   —

To receive alerts of new danger garden posts by email, subscribe here. Please note; these are sent from a third party, you’ll want to click thru to read the post here on the blog to avoid their annoying ads. 

All material © 2009-2024 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.